I beg to present you a Christmas Gift, the City of Savannah . . . — General Sherman to President Lincoln, telegram, December 22, 1864 One hundred fifty years ago in December 1864, General William T. Sherman and his troops completed their “March to …
Methods of transportation, from horse-drawn carriages to helicopters, from airplanes to automobiles, and from trains to trolleys offer a seemingly endless variety of visual inspiration. Some images capture a singular moment in history, some a flight of fancy which does not last, while others show us the progression over time as clever minds invent and …
What do bookplates tell us about book owners for whom they were designed? The small labels (also known as “ex libris”) were intended to be pasted inside an individual’s books to connect the book with its owner. But what other connections regarding the owner’s personal traits or interests might they reveal? Recently, we created an …
The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division. When the elegant Hispanic Reading Room opened in October 1939, its closest neighbor at the Library of Congress was the Division of Fine Arts, known today as the Prints & Photographs Division. Over the last 75 years, we have enjoyed collaborating …
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? The lengthy title of John Bower’s famous print [below] depicting the 1814 British bombardment at Fort McHenry both describes the scene portrayed and provides a tidy summary of the sustained barrage: “A view of the …
The following is a guest post by Sara W. Duke, Curator of Popular & Applied Graphic Arts, Prints & Photographs Division. The Library of Congress has long collected cartoon art and illustration, including editorial cartoon and comic strip drawings. In the last fifteen years, we’ve expanded the scope to include original drawings for alternative comics, …
The following is a guest post by Woody Woodis, Cataloger, Prints and Photographs Division Today, in honor of Bastille Day, or La FĂȘte Nationale, marking the beginning of the French Revolution, we feature highlights from the French Political Cartoon Collection. This small but exemplary collection of 365 prints spans almost two centuries and touches on …
School may be out for the summer, but around the Library of Congress there’s always something new to learn. This week I joined teachers attending one of the Library of Congress Summer Teacher Institute sessions to display examples of primary sources that might be suited to classroom exercises. It set me to reflecting on examples …
The following is a guest post by Martha H. Kennedy, Curator of Popular & Applied Graphic Arts, Prints and Photographs Division. The vibrant colors and massive watermelon in this hand-colored lithograph first caught my eye. Tucked around, beside, and below the melon are rosy apples, golden pears, peaches, plums, blackberries, a cantaloupe, and dark and …